NEW ORLEANS, La. --- Moravian College has had five runners named United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association All-Academic individuals and both the men's and women's cross country squads honored as an All-Academic Team by the USTFCCCA for the 2018 season.
Moravian's honorees were juniors Carly Danoski and Katie Mayer, sophomore Natalie Novotni and freshman Natalie Stabilito from the women's team and junior Gavin Kemery from the men's squad. Danoski and Mayer are both studying Environmental Science while Novotni is a nursing major and Stabilito is studying business administration. Kemery is an English major.
To earn All-Academic individual honors, student-athletes must have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.30 and have finished in the top 25 percent of the finishers at the NCAA Division III Regionals last November. That group total 382 women and 300 men including the five Greyhounds.
Novotni was first among the 81 runners at the 2018 Landmark Conference Championships to earn the individual title and Runner of the Year honors with a career-best time of 22:58.60 on the 6,000-meter course. Mayer placed sixth in 23:29.23 as she earned All-Conference First Team honors for the third time. Danoski finished tenth at the conference championships with a time of 23:47.87 while Stabilito came in 12th in 23:54.07 as both earned All-Conference Second Team accolades for the first time in their careers. Novotni went on to garner All-Mideast Region honors with a top 35 finish as she placed 32rd of 341 runners with a time of 23:57.
For the men, Kemery placed fifth in the Landmark Conference Championships in a time of 26:31.55 as he earned All-Conference First Team honors for the second time after being on the Second Team in 2017 and the First Team in 2016.
"It's no surprise when a strong student becomes a successful runner," stated Head Coach Jesse Baumann. "As I tell recruits, college is about time management, not time availability. It's easy to find an excuse to put off studying or write the lab report another time when your friends are playing games or watching a movie in the dorms. You need the intrinsic motivation to commit to a daily routine when other activities are trying to pull you away. It's the same thing with running. This sport mandates that our athletes are training more than 320 days of the year, even when on vacation or the weather is dreadful. You can't revert to excuses, you just have to push yourself to stay disciplined and get your work done."
The women's team also maintained a 3.59 cumulative GPA after the fall semester and was one of 215 women's teams to earn All-Academic honors while the men's squad had a 3.30 GPA and was one of 178 teams honored. To be considered an All-Academic Team, programs must have a cumulative GPA of 3.10 or greater and also complied a team score at the NCAA Regionals.
"We're fortunate to have a team full of these types of people as our team GPAs of 3.3 and 3.59 show," Baumann said. "We're extremely proud of Gavin, Carly, Natalie, Katie, and Natalie for having a remarkable cross country season and also being strong representatives of Moravian with how they're doing in the classroom while studying some challenging majors. Luckily all of them return next year so our team will continue to be well-represented by strong leadership and people that demonstrate all the qualities you look for in student-athletes."
To view the complete list of the USTFCCCA Academic honorees, visit http://www.ustfccca.org/2019/02/division-iii/2018-ncaa-diii-cross-country-team-academic-awards for the team honorees and http://www.ustfccca.org/2019/02/division-iii/2018-ncaa-diii-cross-country-individual-academic-awards for the individuals.
